


In Orbit

by ayebibs



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-28 22:04:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10840380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayebibs/pseuds/ayebibs
Summary: Some short, unrelated prompt fills from tumblr that center around Hinata and Tsukishima's relationship!





	1. "I loved you."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "I loved you."  
> From this prompt list: [X](http://stefansalfatore.tumblr.com/post/144981395239/sentence-prompts)

It’s been nearly two hours since Tsukishima arrived at the bar and, frankly, he's not completely sure why he's there. Or, rather, he's not sure why he's still there. He knows why he went and the reason isn't even there. 

It's not, like the others might think, because of Yamaguchi or Yachi. Although, to their credit, they really urged him to go, so much so that he can effectively use that as a cover when Tanaka drapes an arm over his shoulder and comments on how they rarely see him at these monthly get togethers. 

Karasuno's volleyball team has remained surprisingly in touch since the original third year’s final game in high school and they frequently get together for dinner or drinks. Tsukishima doesn't usually go, not to say that he's completely opposed to staying in touch. He's remained close with Yamaguchi and Yachi over the years... but it's easy when you're roommates. Occasionally, he'll go out for drinks with Asahi, Daichi, and Sugawara and Ennoshita checks up on him every so often, maybe a habit from when he was captain. 

Everyone else he talks to sparingly, an occasional text here or there. They aren't completely detached, it's certainly more than getting a random "happy birthday" message on his Facebook wall every year. No, that's reserved for cousins he's only met once.

At least, that's most of them. There's one person he hasn't spoken to in ages. He'd like to say that they naturally drifted apart, but he knows that it's because he got too in his head. That he turned into a brick wall and it's awfully hard to have a conversation with a brick wall. 

Tsukishima finishes off his fourth drink and it earns him a painful slap on the back from Nishinoya.

"What? Are you letting loose tonight, Tsukishima?" Nishinoya's maybe grown half an inch since high school, but he still has that ridiculous hairstyle. 

It's as the waitress sets a fifth drink down in front of him that the door to the bar opens and he walks in. 

It's ridiculous he thinks as Hinata walks in with his head slightly tilted back as he laughs and shoves Kageyama playfully. He shouldn't still find Hinata as bright and warm as he does, but his eyes are trained on him as he approaches the table. They make the briefest eye contact until the rest of the team is on them.

"Hey, hey! Professional volleyball players don't know how to tell time? Party started two hours ago!"

"Coach kept us so long and then we couldn't show up gross and sweaty!" Hinata said as he sat down at the opposite end of the table. 

Tsukishima finds his body feeling hot and jittery and, even though he could blame it on the shot of tequila he had earlier, he knew it was because he was itching to say something. 

It didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon. Hinata was preoccupied with other conversations and Sugawara and Daichi were insistent on asking him how his classes were going. He could feel Hinata's eyes trail over to him occasionally, resting on him for only a moment until Tanaka and Nishinoya would steal his attention again.

But the night wears down and the group thins. Asahi starts the cascade when he mentions that he has work in the morning and follows it with a sleepy yawn. Then, Daichi is mentioning about needing to meet him boyfriend and Kiyoko is saying that she needs to study for an exam. 

Before he knows it, it's just him and Hinata standing outside of the bar, waving goodbye to Tanaka who's carrying Nishinoya, who's half asleep, on his back. 

Then, it's just him and Hinata standing on the sidewalk. 

"So..." Hinata begins, "it's been awhile."

“Yeah…” 

“You never called me back,” he says quietly.

Tsukishima would normally bite back, but maybe he’s a little intoxicated, so he just manages a harsh glare. It seems to catch Hinata off guard. 

“What?” he asks. 

“You don’t think that’s unfair at all?”

Hinata pushes his hands in his pockets, shivering just a bit, and looks away, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He could feel that there was a tiny part of him that was sober, screaming at him internally to just keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately, the rest of him is still pretty drunk. 

“What would we talk about when I called you?” he asks. “We could just ignore when I kissed you, but I figured that we could do that without talking.”

He’d like to think that he said those words with his normal level of salt, but he knew that if you’d left him on someone’s yard, he could probably attract deer.

Hinata looks up at him with wide eyes, blinking at him in surprise. 

“That’s what you’ve been mad about? For the past year and a half?” 

Tsukishima looks at him bewildered, what did he think this was about? He wouldn’t have been so bitter if Hinata had mentioned it once. Even if he had rejected him, it would’ve been nice to have some response. 

“I didn’t know that was a real kiss!” Hinata says immediately.

“How couldn’t you know?” 

“It was at your going away party for your study abroad!” Hinata insists. “I thought you were drunk!”

No, he was completely sober then. Not now, but then.

“Well, I wasn’t.” Tsukishima mutters. There’s a short silence and suddenly his mind is forcing him to say something to fill it. “I loved you.” He stutters on the “I” and his voice hitches at the end of “loved,” as if this wasn’t embarrassing enough. 

Hinata’s jaw drops and his face turns red as Tsukishima stews in his embarrassment. 

“Fuck,” Tsukishima curses. “Nevermind.” He shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter, I’ll see you later.” He moves to leave, they shouldn’t be having this conversation in the middle of the street, anyway.

“No!” Hinata’s hand jump from his sides to hold his sleeve. “Don’t go.” Tsukishima stops to look back at him as Hinata stutters out: “Y-you said you ‘loved me.’ H-how do you feel about me now?”

Tsukishima turns red and runs a hand over his face, feeling the heat on his cheeks. “We shouldn’t be having this conversation when I’m drunk.”

And Hinata cracks a smile before laughing and leaning in to rest his forehead on Tsukishima’s chest.

“Okay, then,” he says, looking up and taking his hand, “let’s go get something to eat and sober you up.”

And all Tsukishima can do is blink and follow him down the street.

* * *

When Tsukishima wakes up the next morning, he can’t remember anything about the sobering process. It doesn’t matter too much because whatever it was didn't double as hangover protection, but the pain of the hangover pales in comparison to the rush of emotion he feels when he awakes to find himself in Hinata’s bedroom. Curled next to him, hair tickling the crook his neck, Hinata sleeps peacefully next to him.

“I loved you,” echoes faintly in his mind with all of the raw emotion he had said it with last next in front of the bar. He expects to feel to a burn of embarrassment, but as Hinata shifts and slowly opens his eyes, a small smile finds its way on to Hinata’s face as their eyes meet.

And Tsukishima can no longer feel embarrassed by those words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> (I occasionally take prompts at my tsukihina sideblog: [tsukkishina](http://www.tsukkishina.tumblr.com) Or, visit me at my main blog: [ayebibs](http://www.ayebibs.tumblr.com))


	2. "What if I say no?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "What if I say no?"  
> From this prompt list: [X](http://stefansalfatore.tumblr.com/post/144981395239/sentence-prompts)

Tsukishima watches as Hinata flits from Yamaguchi to Yachi, eyes wide and pleading as he grabs as he grabs her shoulders and spews out a question that he can’t hear from across the gym. Yachi gives him a sympathetic look and bows as she declines, Hinata’s hands drop to his sides and she makes such a sad face as she pats him on the back that Tsukishima is nearly convinced that she’s just as distressed as Hinata is. 

“What’s with him?” he asks Yamaguchi as he tosses a ball back in the bin.

“He needs a date for his cousin’s wedding,” Yamaguchi says, looking pleased when Tsukishima pauses for a fraction of a second when he leans down to put another ball away. 

“Oh?”

“Mmhm,” Tsukishima can feel his best friend’s eyes trained on him and the regret of admitting his crush to Yamaguchi floods him. “Apparently, they tease him for never having a girlfriend or boyfriend. They say it’s because he’s short and volleyball obsessed. So, he lied and said he was dating someone.”

“Sucks for him,” Tsukishima answers, pretending to focus on cleaning up. 

“Me, Yachi, and Kageyama have something to do Saturday and the second years and third years have exams to focus on.”

“Is that so?” Tsukishima can feel Yamaguchi working up to his point and can’t help but get more agitated with every word.

“You know who doesn’t have anything to do Saturday?” Yamaguchi asks, as if Tsukishima doesn’t know.

“Who?” he asks blandly because he already knows there’s no escaping this. 

“You. You and your brother were supposed to go to Tokyo, but he canceled to study for exams, right?”

“I told you this literally an hour ago,” Tsukishima says, “and it’s already come back to bite me in the ass.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers, go with him!” Yamaguchi ignores his bitterness, he’s become so good at that over the years.

“He hasn’t even asked me.” 

And it doesn’t sting at all, he convinces himself.

“Hey! Hinata!” 

Tsukishima nearly shits himself. He’s never felt so homicidal in his entire life. He might actually kill Yamaguchi. With his hands. In the middle of the gymnasium. He might actually-

“What’s up?” Hinata asks when he’s jogged up to them. 

“You know, Tsukki’s free on Saturday, he could probably be your date to your cousin’s wedding.”

“What?” Hinata lights up and looks up at him, the hope in his eyes palpable. He looks so excited. “I didn’t think you’d even let me ask you! Do you want to go? There’ll be free food!”

“Why do you think that’s a selling point for everyone? Not everyone has your appetite,” Tsukishima asks, dodging the question.

“Um,” Hinata scrounges for another response, “there’ll be music?” He shakes his head and tries again. “Could you be my fake boyfriend? Just for the night?”

“What if I say no?”

Behind Hinata, Tsukishima watches as Yamaguchi tries to convey some message to him silently. There’s some hand gestures involved and he could probably figure it out if he stares at him long enough, but then Hinata is talking again.

“Then my cousins are going to know that I lied about dating someone and I’m going to be made fun of at each and every family gathering I ever go to.” Hinata clasps his hands in front of him and looks up at him. “Please, Tsukishima? Please?”

Tsukishima sighs, making it convincingly sound like he only thinks of this as a burden. 

“I guess I can’t say ‘no’ then, can I?”

Hinata’s jaw drops and then he’s bouncing up and down in his place with a huge smile on his face. 

“Gwah~! Tsukishima! You’re the best!” Hinata stops jumping for a fraction of a second to throw his arms around him. Tsukishima doesn’t have a chance to respond before Hinata’s off of him. “Thank you! You’re saving my life. Text me your address and I’ll pick you up!” Then, he’s sprinting over to Yachi, excitedly spewing the details of what they talked about.

Yamaguchi grins at him, looking quite pleased with himself. 

“You owe me one!”

Tsukishima rolls his eyes, but Yamaguchi is certainly right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> (I occasionally take prompts at my tsukihina sideblog: [tsukkishina](http://www.tsukkishina.tumblr.com) Or, visit me at my main blog: [ayebibs](http://www.ayebibs.tumblr.com))


	3. "What are you doing?" "Hiding."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "What are you doing?" "Hiding."  
> From this prompt list: [X](http://stefansalfatore.tumblr.com/post/144981395239/sentence-prompts)

Hinata sings a little song as he makes his way back from the outdoor vending machines, the cold juice feels good as it goes down. He really needs the drink, especially after he spent the entire morning playing matches… and spent the morning losing matches. He’s glad he has an extra. When they called for a break, Hinata didn’t want to slow down, but now he’s seeing the value of the time off. Plus, he thinks, grinning as he closes his eyes and stretches out, they’ll be back at it in an hour anyway.

He’s forcefully pulled from his thoughts when his toes unexpectedly get caught on something and he goes crashing down to the floor. At least he manages to catch himself before his face collides with the ground, he can thank all of the receives he had to do the past few days for that.

He groans and looks back to see what he tripped over and instead finds one of his teammates looking back at him with a look of surprise. Tsukishima is sitting on the floor, long legs spread out, and looking at his phone with earbuds on instead of his normal headphones.

“You don’t know how to watch where you’re going?” Tsukishima asks, with all of the bite that he normally has.

“You were sitting on the floor right in the corner! It’s not like you’re easily spotted!” Hinata insists, frustrated that Tsukishima could turn any exchange into belittling him. “Plus,” he pouts, “your legs are so long, it’s dangerous to keep them out this far. Someone could trip on them from a mile away.”

Tsukishima scoffs and rolls his eyes, “Can you just get off me?”

“Oh,” Hinata blinks, realizing that he’s lying on the floor with the bottom of his legs still draped over Tsukishima’s thighs. He moves quickly to get off of him and crouch nearby. “What are you doing?”

“Hiding.”

Hinata cocks his head to the side. He doesn’t know why Tsukishima is hiding… They’re on break, after all. There are no drills or exercises to skip out on, not that he thinks that Tsukishima would skip out on them anyway.

“What’re you hiding from?” Hinata asks.

“‘Who,’” Tsukishima clarifies. “Kuroo and Bokuto wanted to get up to something during the break, but after seeing Kozume and Akaashi scatter, it seemed like the most logical thing to do.”

“What’s wrong with Kuroo and Bokuto?”

“Nothing, but outside of volleyball, only hot-blooded people like you have the stamina to deal with them.”

“Oh,” Hinata says, glazing over Tsukishima’s insult. “Why are you here?”

“Not many people walk this way and it’s quiet,” he sighs, “it _was_ quiet.”

“I can be quiet,” Hinata says, taking a seat next to him.

Tsukishima quirks an eyebrow as he looks down at him.

“You’re staying?”

“Why not?” Hinata asks. “We don’t have to be back for another half hour and you’re back here by yourself. Plus, an extra juice dropped out when I got this. You can have it.” The box is a bit mashed from when he came crashing down over Tsukishima’s legs, but it’s still good to drink. Hinata continues talking as he hands the juice box over to Tsukishima and doesn’t stop until he feels something cool against his ear.

Startled, he looks up at Tsukishima who is pressing one of the earbuds into his ear. He opens his mouth to inquire what he’s doing, but Tsukishima brings a finger to his mouth, silently hushing him.

Hinata fixes the earbud in his ear and listens carefully to the soft, acoustic music filtering out of it. He’s not sure what kind of music he expected Tsukishima to listen to, but it wasn’t this. He peeks up at Tsukishima whose eyes are closed while he leans his head back and listens to the music.

Something flutters in Hinata’s chest as he looks at him and, even though he doesn’t know what that means, he knows that he’s suddenly really happy that he caught Tsukishima hiding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> (I occasionally take prompts at my tsukihina sideblog: [tsukkishina](http://www.tsukkishina.tumblr.com) Or, visit me at my main blog: [ayebibs](http://www.ayebibs.tumblr.com))


	4. "Please don't cry. I can't stand to see you cry."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Please don't cry. I can't stand to see you cry."  
> From this prompt list: [X](https://ships4you.tumblr.com/post/155331948325/prompt-list)

Hinata stirs as Tsukishima untangles from him and gets out of bed, taking the comfortable pressure and warmth of his body with him. Hinata groans, attempting to cocoon himself in their blankets so that the cold air Tsukishima’s exposed him to won’t chill the heat he built up during the night, but his eyes flutter open anyway.

His attention first goes to their clock on the bedside table, it’s not even four in the morning yet, but Tsukishima is picking up the clothes that he laid out the night before and heading to the shower. Still wrapped in the blanket, Hinata does his best to clear the haziness in his eyes and keep a frown from settling in.

Today is the day of Tsukishima’s trip and Hinata isn’t sure he’s ready for it.

Even though he knew it was coming months ahead, it hadn’t sunk in until last night while Tsukishima finished packing his things. A loneliness claws at his chest. It won’t last forever, he tells himself, but he feels his bottom lip sticking out. His face was exposing him, displaying how childish he felt. Tsukishima had anxiously been waiting this for day, even if he was determined to hide his excitement behind his normal attitude.

Every bit of his selfishness tells him to ask Tsukishima not to go, but there are too many reasons not to. Firstly, Tsukishima would give him an annoyed look and be pissed for the next few days and then go anyway. More importantly because Hinata could never in good conscious ask him not to. Not when the prospect of this field work makes Tsukishima so happy and Hinata wants him to be happy.

Tsukishima walks back into the bedroom with a towel draped over his wet hair. Hinata watches as he muffles a yawn with the back of his hand and gropes for his glasses that he left on his dresser.

“You’re awake?” Tsukishima calls out to him.

Hinata props himself up on his elbows and frowns. “How do you always know that I’m awake?”

“Whenever you get up the apartment stops shaking from your snoring.”

“I do not snore!”

“You definitely do.”

Hinata gawks as his tall boyfriend looks down at him with a satisfied smirk. For a moment, it feels like they’re back in high school and he’s just done something embarrassing, but then Tsukishima’s warm, large hand is pressing against his cheek and guiding his head over so he place a kiss on the top of his head. And then Hinata is reminded of just how nice it feels to be in university with him.

Tsukishima sits down at the edge of the bed to dry his hair and Hinata’s chest feels heavy with the thought that tomorrow Tsukishima will be a twelve hour plane ride away.

“Do you have all of your bags ready to go?” Hinata asks in a small voice. His eyes are still stinging no matter how much his blinks to make the tear go away.

“Yeah, I put them by the door already. I’m all ready to go when the taxi gets here.”

Tsukishima sounds so excited when he says that. Excited for him anyways. He has the same look on his face as he does whenever Hinata suggest that they get a strawberry shortcake for dessert. For some reason, that just makes him feel even sadder. Hinata inches over to Tsukishima and rests his head on his shoulder.

“I’m gonna miss you so much,” Hinata says with a small waver in his voice.

Blinking Tsukishima pulls away to get a better look at his face.

“Are you crying?”

“No,” he grumbles, his hands move to wipe the hot tears from his cheeks, but Tsukishima’s hands beat him to it. “Maybe…”

“Please don’t cry. I can’t stand to see you cry.” Tsukishima says tenderly, the gentle tone making the dreadful anticipation of him leaving even worse.

Hinata groans and he feels a few more scorching tears spill over, “I can’t help it. You’re going so far away.”

“It’s just until the end of the semester.”

“That’s a whole two months!”

“Please,” Tsukishima says, ruffling Hinata’s already mussed hair, “you’ll barely miss me. Between spiking a thousand balls a day and attempting to break your record for most pork buns a day.”

“How could you say that?” Hinata is actually a bit indignant that Tsukishima would think he wouldn’t miss him, even if he’s joking. “Who’s going to make fun of me when I go overboard at practice? And who’s going limit how many pork buns I eat so that I don’t get indigestion?”

“I feel like you see me as a boring person… but you’re right. How are you going to survive without me?”

“And how are you going to survive without me?” Hinata asks. “Who’s going to remind you to eat when you forget? You never eat properly. Or to get sleep?

“I guess you’ll have to message me every day,” Tsukishima says with a shrug.

“I will! … Make sure you answer them when you can and tell me all the cool things you find. Don’t fall in love with a T-rex skeleton and leave me behind.”

Tsukishima laughs, “If I find a whole Tyrannosaurus skeleton you’re never going to see me again.”

“Kei, that’s mean!”

“I’m kidding…”

“And when you come back, make sure to toss to me tons.”

“Ah!” Tsukishima says in mock revelation, “that’s why you want me to stay. You want someone obligated to you to toss for you. That’s slick.”

“You’ve figure me out!” Hinaa is smiling until he remembers they won’t be able to joke like this for two whole months.

Tsukishima pinches his cheek, “I’ll be home soon before you know it.”

Hinata nods and Tsukishima places a kiss on his lips. Hinata genuinely wants this for him. He knows that it’s so important to Tsukishima, which makes it important to him too… but that doesn’t mean that he’s not going to miss him more than anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> (I occasionally take prompts at my tsukihina sideblog: [tsukkishina](http://www.tsukkishina.tumblr.com) Or, visit me at my main blog: [ayebibs](http://www.ayebibs.tumblr.com))


	5. "We're not just friends and you fucking know it."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "We're not just friends and you know it."  
> From this prompt list: [X](https://ships4you.tumblr.com/post/155331948325/prompt-list)

Hinata has never wanted to be friends with Tsukishima. And, if you knew Hinata, that didn’t quite sound right. Perhaps it was a bit of an exaggeration, Hinata had wanted to be friends with Tsukishima when he didn't know anything about him other than they had both signed up for Karasuno’s volleyball team. It was in the same way that he wanted to be friends with anyone who shared his hobby.

The desire had fizzled the moment Tsukishima had held a volleyball a foot over his head in the beginning of the year. 

Then, they were friends. 

It didn’t happen with much fanfare. There wasn’t one day that they suddenly hated each other less or had to work together to overcome a real obstacle. One day Tsukishima’s jokes became a little more playful than they were malicious. At one time or another Hinata found that he had the ability to make Tsukishima smile. Tsukishima stopped grumbling whenever Yachi and Yamaguchi invited him to sit with them for lunch. Suddenly, Tsukishima was a contact in Hinata’s phone and they’d exchange texts. Sometimes they’d linger a few steps behind Kageyama, Yachi, and Yamaguchi when they were walking somewhere just so they could have a chance to chat. 

Without noticing it, Hinata had befriended him. 

Only, he doesn’t want to be friends. Hinata mulls over his complicated feelings as he chews on the mouthpiece of his water bottle. Now, it’s less of a “you’re annoying and I don’t want to spend any more time with you than I need to” not wanting to be friends than a “wow, your face is great and I wanna kiss it” not wanting to be friends. 

His eyes lift from the plastic bottle to watch Tsukishima block one of Tanaka’s spikes. Tsukishima is smirking at whatever Tanaka is grumbling at him. All of a sudden, like his staring has tapped Tsukishima on his shoulder and demanded his attention, Tsukishima looks back at him. 

Hinata's cheeks burn with embarrassment, but he doesn't look away. Tsukishima just looks back at him with a dull gaze and his eyebrow arches, silently asking: "what's with you?" Hinata should probably shake his head or try to convey something back to him, but instead, he looks back at his water bottle and when he looks back up Tsukishima is running through another drill. 

"Oh, Hinata," Yachi is smiling pleasantly at him as she extends a clean towel towards him. "I was talking to Yamaguchi about the new café on our way home. Do you want to come? Kageyama and Tsukishima are going to come with us."

A strange feeling stirs in his stomach. It's weird, it's obvious that he has a crush on Tsukishima, but the butterflies in his stomach makes it feel interchangeable with anxiety... but it's food and some time that they can spend together. Then, he's grinning and excitedly telling Yachi about the nice things that he heard about the place from others. 

They head there immediately after practice, but it feels as though everyone seems to notice how off he feels.

"Are you okay?" Yachi asks politely with a worried look on her face.

When everyone's attention turns to him, Hinata flounders for the first explanation he can think of.

"Yeah! It’s just cold! It's spring now, but it feel like it's still winter, don't you think? I wish a brought a sweater."

"I know!" Yachi chimes in to his relief. "The weather has been all over the place. Last week it was so warm and now it's so chilly!"

Hinata doesn't even notice that Tsukishima is handing him something until Kageyama gestures over to him with a small movement of his chin. Hinata stops walking to stare down at the sweater Tsukishima is offering him. 

"W-what?" he asks.

"Wear it, I usually bring a sweater in case it gets cold."

"Wow," Yamaguchi cuts through the tension and with hot cheeks Hinata takes the sweater, "you know, when we started here, I would never have been able to predict you two would be acting like this."

"Yeah…” Hinata says, hoping that he doesn’t come off as bittersweet as he feels, “I’m glad that Tsukishima and I are friends.”

“Oh!” Yachi gasps softly, making Hinata realize that his teammates stopped and lingered behind him a few steps. They’re staring back at him with confused looks.

“What?” he asks, walking back to them.

“What did you just say?” Tsukishima asks, Hinata can’t tell whether he thinks that Tsukishima looks annoyed or like he has a headache. 

“I said I’m glad we’re friends.”

Kageyama groans and Hinata still feels like he’s being left out of the loop. 

“What? You don’t think we’re friends by now?” he demands. Hinata had spent so much time thinking about how unfortunate it was that he had become friends with his crush, he hadn’t stopped to think that Tsukishima wouldn’t consider him a friend. That thought stung. 

“We’re not just friends and you fucking know it.”

The caustic tone and the sudden use of obscenities takes the other four first years by surprise.

“W-what do you mean by that?” Hinata’s heart is pounding so hard in his chest that he can feel it in the tips of his sweaty hands. 

Only, Tsukishima seems too upset to answer.

“Um… we thought you and Tsukishima were dating,” Yachi supplies tentatively.

“You thought we were dating?” Hinata asks Tsukishima a bit too loudly. Tsukishima shushes him, but Hinata keeps talking at the same volume. “Why would you think we’re dating? We’ve never even talked about it!”

“What did you expect me to think? I just lent you my sweater.”

“I thought you were being nice!”

“When have you known me to be nice?” 

Yamaguchi snorted a little, earning him a glare.

“I thought that we’re friends! In anime you have to confess before you start going out!”

“Is this an anime? Is that the only experience you have?”

“What kind of experience do you have?”

Now, they’re both glaring at each other.

“I thought you looked like you were dating,” Kageyama contributes flatly.

“Maybe, we should go ahead of you guys and get a table at the café?” Yachi looks to Yamaguchi, who is nodding.

“Yeah, you two should work this out by yourselves.”

Tsukishima sighs and nods to his teammates, raising a dismissive hand to send them off. Hinata is left in the imposing shadow of Tsukishima’s tall frame as he watches the potential mediators of the situation disappear. 

The silence feels thicker and thicker the longer the two of them stay silent and Hinata feels obligated to say something.

“How long have you thought we were dating?” Hinata brings the hems of his sleeves into the the palms of his hands and plays with the fabric until he remembers that it isn’t his sweater. 

“A month, probably.”

“Oh… Do you want your sweater back now?”

Tsukishima groans and shakes his head. “Wear it. You’re cold.”

“...”

“...”

“A month is a long time to not have kissed someone you’re dating,” Hinata points out.

“That doesn’t mean I haven’t tried.”

“O-oh.”

“You have a thick skull.”

“It’s not like you told me!” Hinata says in his defense. Maybe he did “have a thick skull,” but he couldn’t be responsible for something the never discussed.

“You don’t think it’s weird that we’d stay up texting each other until three in the morning?”

“Well-”

“Or, that we’d eat lunch together even when Yamaguchi, Yachi, and Kageyama weren’t there? Or, that we always walk next to each other? That you’d stop coming over for tutoring and just to watch movies?”

“Friends do those things too!” Hinata insists, although the way Tsukishima frames it all makes the assumption that they were dating way more obvious. 

He feels like he should say something else, just to break the silence, but Hinata gets so caught up in staring at Tsukishima. The frustrated, pained look on his face makes Hinata realize something.

Oh. Tsukishima thought they were dating. That had to mean… 

“Fine,” Tsukishima says tightly, “... let’s catch up with the others.”  
“Wait, wait, wait!” Hinata stumbles after him, catching the fabric of the back of his uniform between his fingers.

“What?”

“Uh…” Hinata’s cheeks feel so hot. “How can we break up if we’ve never officially gone out? So, maybe, we should do that first.”

Hinata cringed, that sounded so much cooler in his head than it did out loud. Tsukishima looks utterly unimpressed. 

“Did you think that was smooth?”

“I thought it kind of was,” Hinata grumbles, but he feels more elated than embarrassed when Tsukishima ruffles his hair. “But if we’re going to date, you’ll have to talk to me more.”

Tsukishima seems pleased as they head to the café and all of Hinata’s anxiety is gone. He bumps his small hand up against Tsukishima’s until Tsukishima mumbles “stop it” and engulfs his hand in his.

“If we were dating for a month, how did we go without holding hands?” Hinata asks. “Are you just bad at this?”

“Oh, shut up,” but they’re both smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> (I occasionally take prompts at my tsukihina sideblog: [tsukkishina](http://www.tsukkishina.tumblr.com) Or, visit me at my main blog: [ayebibs](http://www.ayebibs.tumblr.com))


	6. “You come to my room and wake me up at 4am, to cuddle?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: “You come to my room and wake me up at 4am, to cuddle?"  
> From this prompt list: [X](https://ships4you.tumblr.com/post/155331948325/prompt-list)

“I don’t really get it,” Yachi ventures in front of Yamaguchi, Kageyama, and Tsukishima as they stand outside of the movie theater.

Since all of them had graduated from Karasuno and went to three different schools, they would still get together every couple of weeks and stay in contact. This time they had decided to see the newest horror movie and were now waiting in front of the building to go home.

“What do you mean?” Tsukishima asked.

“Well, if you like Hinata… why don’t you just tell him?” Tsukishima whips his gaze from the movie poster he was eyeing to look at her.

“It’s because he’s stubborn.” Yamaguchi answers for him. He wouldn’t call himself stubborn, he preferred tenacious.

“That’s what I mean, I don’t get it. Wouldn’t you be happier if you were dating?” Yachi asks.

“It would be less annoying for us,” Kageyama mumbles.

“It’s probably my fault,” Yamaguchi says laughing awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. “I probably teased him too much. I asked him if he would give in to Hinata’s flirting and when he said ‘no,’ I joked that he wouldn’t last until the end of the semester. I think he’s holding out until the beginning of the new one.”

“That’s a little…”

“Fucking stupid,” Kageyama finishes the sentence that Yachi was too polite to.

“I have no idea what any of you are talking about. We fight all the time.”

“Tsukki, I don’t think you realize that your teasing isn’t mean-spirited anymore. It’s just… flirtatious.”

“It’s in your imagination.”

“I don’t know about that…” Yachi says.

“You know, I didn’t expect this from you,” Tsukishima says.

Yachi waves her hands in front of her nervously, “It’s not that I’m trying to be mean… Hinata is just really forward with you and it’s just that, sometimes, it feels like we’re intruding on your date. Maybe because you have some… um, rather, you two have somethings to resolve?”

“Ah!” The sound of Hinata’s voice cuts through their discussion as he comes jogging back from the bathroom. “That movie was so scary that going to the bathroom alone had me spooked!” Hinata shivers. Looking at the other four of them, he looks between them for a explanation of the strange atmosphere. “Did I miss something?” Hinata asks when no one supplies him with one.

“No, let’s head home now though. It’s late,” Yamaguchi says and they make their way to the train.

Tsukishima could pretend like he had no idea where his friends were coming from. It would save his ego to put on a farce, but in all candor, it was completely obvious that they were right.

Sometime around their first semester, Hinata developed a crush on him. Tsukishima supposes that Hinata might’ve liked him before. If he thought about it hard enough, he could probably figure out if Hinata had like him before then, but the changes that happened when they started university would dwarf any of the signs that came before.

Tsukishima and Hinata ended up at the same university, both on scholarship. Hinata for volleyball and Tsukishima for his high GPA. Tsukishima had also gotten into the university that Yamaguchi and Yachi attended on volleyball scholarship, but they had lacked the program he was interested in. Living in the dorms had initially seemed like a good idea, they were, after all, far from their hometown. A quick look at prices changed their minds, but renting apartments wasn’t cheap without roommates either. It had been in both of their best interest to room together.

It was sometime around when they moved in that Hinata started flirting with him. It had taken him by surprise at first, making the feelings that Tsukishima had buried for him in their third year of high school suddenly bubble up. Initially, he was convinced that Hinata was joking. But time progressed, and their first semester came and went.

Then, Yamaguchi had teased him about the change in their relationship and, then he was so defensive that he wouldn’t initiate anything with Hinata until the semester was over. In a way, this was difficult. Like Yachi said, he’d probably be happier if they were dating, but it wasn’t like he had figured out a way to respond to Hinata’s unabashed flirting.

Tsukishima and Hinata kick off their shoes as they enter their apartment. Tsukishima is glad they waited until the end of the week to see this movie rather than on a school night. It’s already one in the morning and, even though Hinata might be a morning person, he definitely was not.

“I’m headed to bed,” Tsukishima says, swallowing a yawn. “Good night.”

Hinata hesitates before smiling and saying, “Without a good night kiss?”

Not one of his better lines.

“Good night,” Tsukishima repeats and closes the bathroom door behind him. He brushes his teeth and retires to his room, shedding a few layers, and slipping between his sheets.

It feels as though Tsukishima has just closed his eyes when he hears someone knocking on his door. There’s a pause before the knocking continues, a little longer and harder now.

“Tsukishima!” Hinata whispers urgently on the other side of the door. “It’s me, Hinata.” Tsukishima rolls his eyes. Of course it was, they were the only ones who lived there.

“What do you want?” he asks, his words are so bogged down with fatigue that they slur together.

“Can I come in?”

“Fine,” he answers. Hinata opens the door and Tsukishima reaches to turn the lights on, but Hinata stops him.

“No, it’s okay…” Hinata shifts nervously at the foot of his bed. “That movie was scary, right?”

“Not really… none of it made sense.”

“Ugh! Of course you’d say that!”

“Why did you wake me up?” he grumbles.

Hinata scuttles to the side of his bed. “Can I sleep with you?”

“What?”

“I’m scared.”

“No, go back to your room. The sun is rising in, like, two hours anyways.”

“Tsukishima!” Hinata whines.

Tsukishima groans, but he inches over until there’s enough room on his small bed for the both of them. Even through the darkness, he can see Hinata grin before he settles in next to him. Tsukishima thinks that’s the end of it, so he turns around and closes his eyes. Sleep attempts to cover him like a warm blanket, but next to him Hinata wriggles about, literally and metaphorically tugging the blanket away from him.

“Can you stay still?”

“I can’t help it. I feel like I’m exposed. Like that ghost lady is going to grab my leg and drag me to my doom.”

“How are you still so dramatic as an adult?”

“I’m not being dramatic, that movie was terrifying!”

Tsukishima flips around. He’s a little embarrassed how affected he is to find that their noses are only centimeters apart, but his annoyance with Hinata’s opinion overrides it.

“First of all, why were they even in that house? They could have just left. It’s not even like they just moved in or that the ghost prevented them from leaving.”

“Well, yes, but-”

“Also-”

“Tsukishima! I’m still going to be scared even if you explain it.”

Tsukishima feels a little guilty looking at his troubled face.

“Then what would make you feel better?”

“… You could hold me.” Tsukishima thinks that Hinata is joking at first and scoffs without thinking, before Hinata indignantly adds, “Seriously.”

“You come to my room and wake me up at 4am, to cuddle?”

“I really am scared.”

They stare at each other for a few moments before Tsukishima folds and looks away.

“Turn around then.”

Hinata nods so vigorously that he turns on a delay. Staring at the back of his head, makes Tsukishima feel nervous, but then he inches closer and his arm tentatively slips around his waist. He lets his arm awkwardly sit there for a moment before he realizes that there’s a weird amount of distance between them. After he gets over his nervousness, he inches closer and pulls Hinata back so that their bodies are pressed together.

It’s surprising how comfortable it is. Hinata is so warm that he rivals the feeling of any electric blanket Tsukishima has ever used.

“Does this mean you’ve fallen for my charms?” Hinata asks jokingly.

“I will kick you out of my bed.”

Only, he doesn’t. He falls asleep warm and wrapped comfortably around him and that’s how he wakes up.

Tsukishima is definitely not going to make it to the end of the semester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> (I occasionally take prompts at my tsukihina sideblog: [tsukkishina](http://www.tsukkishina.tumblr.com) Or, visit me at my main blog: [ayebibs](http://www.ayebibs.tumblr.com))


	7. “You’re mine. I don’t share.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: “You’re mine. I don’t share."  
> From this prompt list: [X](https://ships4you.tumblr.com/post/155331948325/prompt-list)

“Hey, look, look!” 

Tsukishima doesn’t really care about the random gossip that his teammates sometimes partake in, but it’s hard not to pay attention when they’re just a couple feet away from him. Tsukishima lifts his eyes to see where they’re looking at and is surprised to find that the topic of their conversation is his boyfriend. On the other side of the gymnasium Hinata is speaking to another one of their teammates.

“What?” Another one of his teammates asks.

“Look at Hinata and Higurashi!”

“What about them?” Tsukishima’s question makes the other two jump. Although he and Hinata hadn’t let their team know that they were dating, sometimes their protectiveness slipped through.

“I heard they were dating!” his teammate tells him.

“Says who?” Tsukishima spits before he can stop himself.

“It’s obvious,” he gestures over to where Hinata and Higurashi are laughing together. “They’re always laughing and flirting with each other.”

“Haven't you noticed?” his other teammate asks, politely. “I thought you would have noticed since you and Hinata are close… You’ve know each other since high school, right?”

“There’s nothing to notice,” Tsukishima says tightly. 

There had never really been a reason to make their relationship public. It was by chance that their high school teammates had found out and, in all fairness, they probably should not have been making out in the club room. Luckily, no one cared. If anything, they were happy. A little too happy, too prying, and too embarrassing. They figured that they could probably live without that in college, the people who mattered already knew. 

Now, Tsukishima had a reason.

“Oh, come on-” his teammate shuts his mouth when Tsukishima glares at him. “Geez,” he grumbles, and puts his hands up in defense, “you’re so protective of him. Can’t wait to tell you I told you so.”

“You’ll be waiting until you die,” Tsukishima says seriously. His teammates seem weirded out by his annoyance, but their reactions do nothing to make it fade. In fact, Tsukishima’s jealousy weighs on his back like a piece of luggage all throughout practice. He brings it with him to his next class and then carries it all the way back to his apartment.

He feels it when Hinata wraps his arms around him as he tries to prepare dinner, creating distance between them even though their pressed together. 

“So,” Hinata ventures, “why are you grumpy?”

“I’m not grumpy,” he replies, not expecting how unconvincing his tone is. He continues chopping vegetables, only looking away to roll his eyes when Hinata mockingly repeats his words. When Hinata is done making fun, he untangles himself and leans against the opposite counter.

“Didn't we talk about this, though?” he asks more seriously now. “You can't just walk around being pissed without even telling me you need some time to digest…” They had talked about this, it was part of an ongoing effort to get Tsukishima to be more upfront rather than stewing in his emotions and blowing up later. “... Did I do something wrong?”

Tsukishima sighs and turns around to face him. 

“You didn't do anything wrong…”

“Then, what's going on?”

Tsukishima hesitates before asking, “What do you think about Higurashi?” He finds himself annoyed at his own petulance, but Hinata doesn't catch on. His boyfriend's face scrunches up with confusion.

“He's a good wing spiker? He goofs off at practice and skips too much, though.” 

Tsukishima buries the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. Of course, Hinata goes straight to volleyball. 

This is stupid. 

He's stupid. 

There's no reason to be jealous and yet he's drowning in the excess. 

“Why? Did he do something to you?” Then he’s getting riled up and defensive and Tsukishima just feels even more ridiculous. He holds out a hand to wave off Hinata’s surge of protectiveness.

“Someone mentioned that you two were dating.”

Hinata just looks confused. 

“But you know we aren't. I’m dating you.”

Tsukishima sighs again and takes a small step to close the distance between them. At this difference Hinata needs to look up to see his face.

“Exactly,” he says, cupping Hinata's face between his hands and leaning down so he can look him in the eye. “You're mine. I don't share.” Under his hands Hinata's face grows red and hot. 

Hinata maneuvers out his grasp and covers his flushed face.

“Kei! That's so embarrassing!” 

“We’ve been dating for three years, Shouyou.” There's something about Hinata's pure reaction that makes the weight of his jealousy fizzle and instead makes him feel light and airy. Tsukishima lets out a soft laugh and guides Hinata's hand away from his face. “Well, don't forget it.” He kisses him lightly. 

Under his lips, Hinata smiles.

“Never.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> (I occasionally take prompts at my tsukihina sideblog: [tsukkishina](http://www.tsukkishina.tumblr.com) Or, visit me at my main blog: [ayebibs](http://www.ayebibs.tumblr.com))


	8. “Stop pretending you’re okay, ‘cause I know you’re not.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: “Stop pretending you’re okay, ‘cause I know you’re not.”  
> From this prompt list: [X](https://ships4you.tumblr.com/post/155331948325/prompt-list)

There is something deeply unsatisfying about bullying Hinata when he doesn't bite back.

Normally, when Tsukishima pokes and prods at him, Hinata fires back. He doesn’t necessarily fire back with anything good or witty, but he puts up a fight. What Tsukishima is not used to is Hinata agreeing with his teasing or simply ignoring him all together.

Hinata is not supposed to respond "yeah" when Tsukishima mentions that the volleyball gremlin had shown up late for practice. He’s not supposed to shrug when Tsukishima makes fun of how he receives a volleyball with his face.

For some reason this only makes Tsukishima more invested. He prods a little harder with his teasing, looking to get something out of Hinata. He stops when he realizes that Hinata will not rise to his bait. Which is only coincidentally when he also realizes that his teasing is deeply reminiscent of tugging on your crush's pigtail in elementary school.

Tsukishima's not sure what's wrong with him, and he can't help but harp on it during practice. Whatever mood Hinata is in must be contagious because suddenly he's off his game. He's receiving poorly and is so out of it that his attention is on a whole other planet when Tanaka spikes a ball past him and he doesn't even jump.

It's for this reason that Tsukishima is relieved when they call for a break. Both Coach Ukai and Daichi seem to notice that there's something off in the team. Tsukishima wonders if they know it's because Hinata isn't his usual self, there's no one riling up Kageyama, bouncing up and down with Nishinoya, anyone assuaging Yachi's anxiety. Maybe it's not that, Tsukishima concedes to himself. Maybe it's almost time for exams and everyone is stressed out. 

Maybe he's just hyper fixated on Hinata's strange mood.

He should really leave it alone, but it feel like there's there's this little spot on his glasses that won't go away no matter how much he tries to clean it. It's so tiny yet it's commanding all of his attention.

Tsukishima is tempted to try teasing Hinata again, but rather than catch his breath inside the gym, Hinata slips out of it. 

For a few moments Tsukishima lingers inside of the gym until his curiosity takes over and he follows Hinata out. Tsukishima is surprised to find that he can't immediately spot him. Instead, Tsukishima finds himself wandering around until he spots Hinata's bright, wild hair near the vending machines. He's crunched next to a machine, looking smaller than he normally does. He’s staring silently at the milk box he's clutching in his hands.

“You punch the straw through the foil circle.” Tsukishima tells him as he walks up to him.

“Ah, right.” 

Tsukishima’s face scrunches up with disgust. This is awful. He hates whatever is making Hinata feel this way because is it’s bleeding over to him and making his stomach twist.

“What’s with you?” Tsukishima asks.

Hinata looks up at him in surprise before he gets to his feet. 

“Nothing,” Hinata begins, but Tsukishima is uninterested in his lie.

“Stop pretending you’re okay, ‘cause I know you’re not.”

Hinata’s mouth hangs open and it’s clear that he’s running through ways to respond in his head. When he finally closes his mouth, his lips press together in a thin line. 

“I failed my English exam.”

“How is that any different than any of your other English exams?” Tsukishima doesn’t realize how mean that sounds until Hinata glared at him. What he meant was that failed exams had never managed to damper his mood, but there might as well have been a rain cloud over his head.

“My mother is going to kill me if my report card doesn’t improve,” Hinata’s voice becomes strained, “I actually tried this time. I studied so much. Right after practice and really late. None of it makes a difference.”

Tsukishima isn’t sure what he’s feeling. Sadness? Guilt? Empathy? Whatever it is, he wants it to stop, it’s too unpleasant. He snatches the milk from Hinata’s hands and jabs the straw in at the top before handing it back to him. He silently stares at Hinata until Hinata guesses that Tsukishima wants him to take a sip.

“I’ll help you pass your exams.”

“What?” Hinata’s eyes go wide. “Really? You’ve never wanted to tutor me in the past.”

“Do you not want my help?”

“Ah, n-no. I’ll take it!” Tsukishima watches as Hinata smiles for the first time for the day. “You know, Tsukishima, you’re not half bad!”

“That sounds like an insult.” But it’s hard to be offended, when Hinata is smiling at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> (I occasionally take prompts at my tsukihina sideblog: [tsukkishina](http://www.tsukkishina.tumblr.com) Or, visit me at my main blog: [ayebibs](http://www.ayebibs.tumblr.com))


End file.
